By Stefan Coerts

The director has praised the January signing and thinks he could win the Fifa Ballon d'Or at some point in the future

AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani believes that Mario Balotelli has what it takes to become one of the best players in the world.

The Rossoneri director feels the Italy international is not yet on the same level as players such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Radamel Falcao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but has little doubt Balotelli has the potential to reach their levels.

"I think that up front there are four players in the world who are a cut above: Messi, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic and Falcao but Balotelli is right behind them," Galliani told Milan Channel.

"He’s young and has all the right ingredients. Milan have had eight Ballon d’Or winners, let’s hope he’ll be the ninth.

"I always thought Balotelli was a great player since he was at Inter, and we’ve managed to bring him back to Italy, usually it’s the other way round.

"I speak to him every day and I tell him that he has to continue doing well as this is the first season that he’s playing with continuity. He has that star quality."

Balotelli has netted seven goals in six Serie A appearances since joining Milan in January.